Outcome of the Arranged Marriage
by 3dumplings3
Summary: What would have happened if, in all those fics where Neji was stuck in an arranged marriage with Hinata, but loved Tenten- the marriage was not stopped, and went through. Where everyone fought for it to end, but it was forced through anyway. Neji/Tenten, Kiba/Hinata, Neji and Hinata are married.


AN: I know you all must hate me, those who are reading my Tobi story. I'm so sorry for not updating! It's just that Temari's chapter is a lot of work, and its taking me a long time to think up good ideas for Tobi's antics. I've been procrastinating on it so badly T_T. Please don't kill me.

Well…so in a change of Naruto ideas…I wrote this angsty little thing… (Which I finished cause it was pretty short) Cause I was reading those NejiTen stories where Neji is stuck in an arranged marriage with Hinata, and Tenten and Neji love each other, and Neji somehow gets out of it and Tenten and Neji live happily ever after. So, ever wonder what would happen if Neji wasn't able to get out of the marriage? Well…that's what my story is. R&R.

*side note: Oh yeah, and Neji cries a bit in this… I don't think that's too OOC because he's really upset…but I could have over done it…

*Also, for the part about him becoming broken, credit goes to several other authors who have used that with Neji, it isn't my idea, but I don't remember the two or three people who have used it . . I just really loved that idea, so it popped into my head for this angsty thing. Oddly enough I don't usually write angsty.

*I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Hinata POV

"Misa-chan! Tao-chan! Get up!"

"Yes, Mother."

"…Yeah I'm coming!"

I wiped my hands on the apron and continued to cook breakfast. I took a taste of the dish. It tasted fine.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Misaki ran into the kitchen and skidded to a stop in front of me, her hair in a messy brownish-black ponytail, as usual. "Morning Mother!", she said, with a sweet smile.

I smiled at her gently. "Morning, Misa-chan. Where's Tao-chan?"

"Oh- he's coming…" said Misaki, her white eyes opening innocently. "He just has a few…problems with his toothpaste."

I shook my head. "Misaki…"

"Sorry Mother…I just couldn't help it."

Taro came bounding down the stairs like a hare. "MISAKI- NEE-CHAN!"

"Ah, Taro-bunny! What's wrong?"

"YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT'S WRONG! YOU PUT YOUR LIP GLOSS IN MY TOOTHPASTE!" Taro yelled, his purple-black hair messy and his white eyes angry.

"Awww…Taro-bunny, you could have just asked if you wanted to use my makeup~!"

"MISAKI-NEE!"

I smiled at their antics. They were so cute, with their black hair, and white eyes, but… sometimes I wished that instead… the grin of Misaki had a more mischievous slant and Taro's messy hair was a warm brown instead of black…

"Tao-chan…Misa-chan… please calm down…"

A new voice came into the conversation.

"What's all the ruckus?"

I felt a little pain sting through my heart. "Ah! Neji-nii. You woke up."

Neji, my husband for five years now, came down the steps. His eyes still looked slightly pained at the sight of me. "Morning…" he said, wearily.

"Morning," I said, feeling a bit empty. "Breakfast is on the table."

"Thanks. You have your Clan duties to do?"

"Y-yes."

I had been brought to leadership as Clan Head after my father retired from the role. I…wasn't very good at it… but I tried hard. The Elders were giving me a lot of trouble, but I worked hard to make sure that none of the other young members of the Hyuuga Clan met the same fate as Neji and I. We were put in an arranged marriage. …It was…for strategic reasons. The Elders were planning to use me as a puppet to gain more power for themselves, and have tight control over the Hyuuga Clan. Therefore, they had to marry me off to someone inside the clan. A foreigner could use me against them. I was to be married off to some nobody in the Branch Clan. However, at the same time, Tou-sama was pushing for Neji to become Clan Head, although Neji was of the Branch Clan. I would also rather Neji be Clan Head. He was much more capable than me, and would be able to stand up against the Elders. We all knew that I would not have the willpower to stand up to them effectively. However, Tou-sama's plan went terribly wrong. The Elders said that they would concede. They said that Neji would not become Clan Head, but they would give that power to him as my husband, presiding over the clan through me.

Tou-sama could not argue them out of it. They stubbornly held that Neji and I would have to be married. Neji was devastated. I had never seen my older cousin, who I wasn't that close to before so…upset. He closed himself off completely. Often, after I had left his room from our required "period of getting to know each other", I heard his strained voice whispering, "Tenten…". He was completely broken. As for me, I felt empty inside, like I was no longer me, I was someone else, going through a waking nightmare. I… would never find happiness. When I told my friends… Shino was shocked. I could see his eyes open wide through his sunglasses, and a pitying look on his face. It was Kiba's reaction, though, that cut through me like a knife. Kiba couldn't even…face me. He turned away quietly and mumbled something like, "That's…great. Congratulations."

…In the end… there was no way out of it. Tenten, Tou-sama, Neji, Lee, Gai-sensei, Kiba, Shino, Kurenai-sensei, and I all fought very hard…but…

We were married.

The spark of happiness in our lives died out, leaving nothing but darkness.

"Misaki, don't put lip gloss in Kotaro's toothpaste again! Do you understand?!"

"Yes Father."

"I'm taking away your Chakra-kunai for a week for this!"

"No! Father!" Misaki's eyes filled up with tears.

"I don't care!"

"Y-yes Father."

Neji watched Misaki's teary eyes for a little bit, then patted her head and gruffly said, "Run along now, we have training to do."

Then he yelled, "Taro, what are you doing? Come on, I'm going to teach you how to do Jyuken, 24 strikes!"

I could still see that little twinge of pain in his eyes, that their smiles wasn't Tenten-sempai's warm grin, or their loves the Gentle Fist style, and not the thousands of weapons that Tenten-sempai loved.

Then I went out the door of our section in the compound, and headed toward the Hyuga Council.

It was late when I got back. The children were already asleep. The house was quiet. Just like usual… wait. I could hear, a small, odd sounding noise. I went closer to the noise. It sounded…almost like someone crying. The hunt for the noise led me onto the balcony. Neji was there, his head in his hands. He was crying, silently.

His crying resonated into my heart. I knew what he was crying for. I felt like crying for the same thing. Perhaps… that's why I didn't go.

"Nii-san…"

Neji didn't look up. "Hinata…sama…"

"Nii-san…" I sat down next to him and put a hand gently on his shoulder.

Sobs racked his body. "I'm…sorry. It's just that…"

I smiled sadly. "I know. You wish it weren't me, huh?"

Neji clenched his fist. "…Yeah."

I said sadly, "Yeah. I wish it weren't me as well.

That's when it all poured out.

"Why? Why?" He said it over and over again. "Tenten… Why? I love her so much, and yet why couldn't Kami let me marry her? Why couldn't we be together?

Tenten…"

Pain filled his eyes. He spoke, involuntarily. "You know… I was walking around today… and I saw her. She was laughing and smiling…with another man and her child. It stabbed right through my heart… seeing her like that… her eyes so filled with laughter and happiness with someone else. But…there was just a hint of dimness in those eyes… I guess… for us, it just wasn't meant to be."

"I…feel the same way." Neji looked at me. "As you know…I…always was infatuated with Naruto-kun. But…with his marriage to Sakura…I got over it. It…didn't matter so much anymore. Because…I could feel _his_ warmth behind me anyways, welcoming me. I could feel Kiba behind me. He was always there for me. I realized, that I had loved him, his kindness, warmness, all along. I love him still. …I…keep feeling empty inside. Like, inside me, something is missing, just as something is missing inside our marriage… I saw him today, with his dogs…and his…children…and his…wife. I only wish…I could have loved him longer, that we could have been together…but…" I started crying. Neji looked at me, tears dripping from his eyes.

"Yeah," he said.

Together on the balcony, we cried together, for the ones we loved so deeply, that we could never have.


End file.
